


Enter The Russian

by Ghost0



Series: New York Underground [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:21:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28079829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost0/pseuds/Ghost0
Summary: The hunt has commenced! Jessica Jones connects with Luke Cage while trying to track down Peter Parker. But they both end up becoming pawns in Kraven's hunt for the Spider. While Peter's friends reach out to Aunt May who is building a defense with Foggy Nelson, the web slinger is unsure of what to do.
Series: New York Underground [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053425
Kudos: 5





	Enter The Russian

Bullets flew through the air, continually missing the unknown assailant. The lights in the warehouse created a bunch of shadows that this unidentified individual could be using to hide his presence. The small group of men tried to use their ears to pick up on any sign of movement. The cries of one of their men being assaulted came from across the room, several of the men standing more towards the middle turned and fired. They saw the shape and general size of the attacker, but he didn’t stay still long enough for them to get a good look at him. But he did take the gun his victim was holding and fired back at them. He hit a couple of them, roughly three of them still remained standing. The attacker moved back into the shadows and left them standing in the light. A couple of them continued firing into the shadows, hoping to take him down. For a while, they heard nothing. It lasted long enough where one of them tried approaching one of the shadows to see if they can see anything.

That was when he was stabbed through the chest. A machete blade pierced his body, blood spilling out and staining his jacket as it dripped onto the floor. Before the other two could turn around and properly aim, the hidden attacker moved and threw a different weapon. A metallic javelin threw through the air at a slight downward angle. A sign that he either jumped or got on top of some sort of object before throwing his weapon. It went through the torso of the first man and pierced the thigh of the last man. While the first was seconds from death, the man holding onto his leg as he fell to the ground was going to stick around for a little while. The attacker stepped from the shadows and walked towards his victims. He grabbed onto the one who was pierced through the chest, pulling him off of the javelin that was still partly inside his dead body. He then walked towards the still very conscious man on the ground. Taking a knee, his dark eyes examined the wound.

“The blade just missed an artery. Less than a centimeter upwards and you would be bleeding a lot more.” His victim groaned and cried out in pain. Looking at his face, he continued to speak. “You did as well as you could have. Do not feel ashamed that you have been taken down. I have killed men who didn’t last even half as long as you.”  
Finally, the man on the ground looked up at the one who did this to him. “Fuck you asshole!”

“An appropriate reaction to a situation like this. But I am determined that those will not be your last words.” Reaching down, the man kneeling pulled his victim up off the ground just a little bit. Just to bring him closer so that he can get a good look at him. “You see; I am new to your city. While I have travelled to America in the past, I have yet to have an assignment that brought me to one of this country’s most famous Metropolitan cities. Which means I am not familiar with the structure of its criminal underbelly. I have no need to kill the beast and take over the city for myself, I assure you of that. But I need to know who are the ones in charge to help me in my mission.”

He grabbed and pulled on the hair on the back of the wounded man’s head. “Tell me, who must I speak to in order to find the one called Spider-Man?”

******

“Are you sure we should be here?” MJ had her hands in her jacket, looking at Ned as they approached the apartment door. “I think she has enough people trying to get at her.”

“Maybe. But I just…you know, show support. Maybe try and see if there is anything we can do to help.” He looked nervous and a little unsure himself. But so much as to back out now. MJ gave a curt nod of agreement, turning her head towards the door as he leaned forward and knocked on the door. When it opened up, it certainly wasn’t May Parker who answered.

He was white and wearing a suit. Long red, almost orange, hair that was brushed back behind his ears. Looking down, he raised an eyebrow as he saw two teenagers in front of the door. “You aren’t paparazzi, are you? If you are, then they must be a more desperate for news than I thought they already were.”

“No sir.” Ned spoke first. MJ was looking over. Something that this man was uncomfortably aware of, but he wasn’t sure why he was uncomfortable with it. “We were-is May Parker here? We are friends of Peter. I’m Ned and- “

The man turned around as May approached the door. She wore a hooded sweatshirt, pulling down the hood and smiled as she recognized the two teens. Hello Ned! And I’m guessing your MJ.” The young girl softened up a bit and nodded.

“Yea, that’s me. If you prefer, I wouldn’t throw a fit if you called me Michelle.” She said.

“Very well. It’s OK, they can come in.” She told the man. He stood aside and let them walk into the apartment. May lead them inside while he closed the door. “I apologize. There are a lot of people that want me to give comments and to answer a bunch of questions. I just thought it would be for the best if I stayed out of the light as much as I can. I don’t really feel comfortable being near the open windows, getting a little paranoid someone is trying to take pictures.”

“I’m really sorry Miss Parker.” Ned said. 

She waved her hand. “You didn’t have anything to do with it.” May looked over at MJ. “Did you know, like Ned, about Peter before the video released?”

She shifted slightly on her feet. “I just found out while we were in Europe. But I knew him in general before. There is…it’s crap what they are trying to say he did. I don’t care what that video looks like.”

“The judge cares, and so will a jury.” The man grabbed a stool and sat down a bit away from the rest of them. 

May put her hand to her forehead. “Sorry, should have introduced you!”

“Don’t worry about it Miss Parker. Foggy Nelson. I’m working with her to build a defense for Peter.” He held out his which Ned shook. MJ waited a couple seconds, but ended up shaking his as well. All though she moved a bit slower than Ned did. Sitting back down, Foggy rubbed his legs. “I’m not going to lie. Right now, a lot of people are believing the footage and the claim made by Quentin in the video. The court of public opinion is not on our side right now, which will make it harder to disprove it in the courtroom.”

“Can’t you find someone who can analyze the video to find some sort of manipulation or editing?” May asked.

“We can try. But it’s very difficult to disprove that sort of thing.” He answered. “As it stands right now, that video serves as Quentin Beck’s dying declaration.”

“What does that matter?” MJ asked.

“Well, in most situations that video would be hearsay and we would be able to argue against it.” Foggy explained. “But since this is a criminal case, it would be accepted as a dying declaration. If you believed you were going to die in the next hour, would you take the time to record a video explaining what lead to it if you were simply going to lie?” MJ simply looked down and away in thought. Foggy let out a deep sigh. “Ironically, I have recently been in a situation that also included the same kind of footage. Thankfully, I was on the side that desperately needed something like that to show up. Now I kind of know what it’s like to be on the other side.” He straightened up and cleared his throat. “But that’s not important. We need to focus on finding Peter and making sure he is safe. Putting all of this aside, I can imagine a lot of criminals who Peter might have crossed paths with before would be trying to look for him.” He turned a little red as he looked over at May. She grew a look of concern. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to – “

She shook her head. “No, you’re right. Last night I snuck out and hired a private investigator.”

Foggy nodded his head. “Professionally, it was a risk. But you did the right thing. I also have a friend who is doing what he can to find Peter.” He looked over at the two teens. “Have the police already questioned you two about Peter?”

“Yea, asked a bunch of questions where we think he might be, places he liked to go to.” MJ nodded as Ned confirmed. He turned back to May. “But if there is anything else we can do; I am totally willing to help!”

“Same here.” MJ said. 

May smiled big. Standing up, she walked over and gave them a quick big hug. “I know you two want to help. I appreciate it!” She pulled away and fought back a tear that was trying to escape. “If you ever need to call or come over, please don’t be afraid. I have no idea what might come up, but my door is always open to you two.”

“I…we just want to know he’s all right.” MJ said. May looked and nodded, silently mouthing that she knows. They all silently walked to the door as May escorted them back out into the hallway. Slowly closing the door, she held her arms and looked down at the ground. Foggy got up and walked to her, softly putting his hand on her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. She walked back into her apartment, Foggy silently hoping that his partner can find the missing web slinger quickly.

******

The cab pulled up the sidewalk. Opening up the door, Jessica stepped onto the concrete after paying the driver his fee. Looking up, she took in the sight of Harlem’s Paradise. For a few silent moments, she just stood and looked at the place that used to be the center of crime for Harlem in one way or another. Cracking her neck, she stepped towards the building and pushed open the doors. Looked like it was empty at first. The stage was clear and all the table were empty. But then she heard someone call to her. “Hey, sorry but we aren’t open.” She turned to her right and looked at a couple of guys standing there, one of the crossing his arms. They looked her over, just like what she was doing to them.

“Relax twiddle-dee and twiddle-dumbass. I’m looking for Luke. He around?” She asked. 

“Maybe he is. Maybe he isn’t. What’s it to you?” One of them answered directly. Neither one of them made any movements.

“Since you asked, twiddle-dumbass, let me answer with this.” She brought her hand up and extended her middle finger. “Does that answer your question? Because I can pull up the other hand if you need to put some emphasis on it.” Just when it seemed like they were about to pull out hidden weapons, a voice spoke from up above.  
“What do you two think you’re doing?” All three of them looked up, Jessica having to turn around. Luke wore a dark suit, but had a yellow dress shirt underneath his jacket. He raised his eyebrow, aiming his questioning gaze to the two speaking to Jessica. “Why don’t you clear the Paradise? I’m sure Jessica will promise not to be too hard with me.”

She turned around and smirked at the two. “I pinkie promise.” The middle finger went down and the pinkie took its place. Their facial expressions didn’t change, but they followed his orders and walked away. Heading into the back, she assumed there was at least one back door they could use and direct anyone else towards. Her eyes focused on the path they used instead of looking back up at Luke. “I don’t know man; I think you need to be stricter with your dogs. I think one of them might have been a little too eager have his little friend say hello to me.”

Luke moved towards the stairs. “They aren’t my dogs. They are my employees. Security. And they follow just fine.” Jessica turned around as she listened to Luke coming down the steps. “Despite what you might have feared, I’m not turning into Dillard. They listen to me when I ask them to do something, but I’m not forcing them to do anything. I need them to like me to a certain extent.”

“Yea, I don’t know who the fuck Dillard is.” Jessica admitted when Luke started to approach her. “I barely remember who our mayor is whenever I wake up. Damn hangover; takes me a minute to remember anything.” Luke gave a small grin and chuckled a bit. She looked him over again. “You seem to be doing well. This place making steady money?”

He nodded. “Yep. No issues with that. Make sure to bring in good talent.” He took a minute to look around, eyed the stage for a few seconds. But then he turned back around and the grin disappeared. “But I’m guessing you’re not here for a simple checkup. Working a case, I imagine?” Jessica shrugged her shoulders. “Please tell me you’re not here because one of ‘dogs’ as you call them shot someone?”

“You are in the clear on that front. Do you know of any places where a fugitive might go to lay low? Maybe a runaway kid?”

“Hell no…” Luke shook his head. “Please tell me you’re not actually looking for that Parker kid?”

“Not my fault he has an aunt that cares about him. A job is a job.” She crossed her arms and continued staring. “So, do you know of any such places?”

Now it was Cage’s turn to shrug his shoulders. “Can’t say for sure. There might be a couple of ideas in my head. Depends on what you are looking to do when you find him.”

“You do realize that makes it seem like you are hiding a fugitive wanted for murder?”

“You actually believe that?” Luke raised an eyebrow at her. She gave no response, no change in the way she met his gaze. Letting out a deep sigh, Luke brought his hands in front of his body and held them. “I know that they are kids who make the wrong choice. Doing what it takes to survive. So yea, it’s possible he actually did it. But I choose to believe that there is a chance that someone that young didn’t actually commit murder. Especially when it comes to our line of work.”

Jessica couldn’t help but snort at that last part. “OUR line of work? You deal with crime families and I mainly deal with scumbag husbands cheating on their lonely wives? This kid was in London taking on a guy with a fishbowl on his head. OK, I did end up fighting ninjas but I choose to believe someone put a little something in my whisky.”

Luke shook his head. “I’ll admit; I have no idea where to find him. But I suggest you re-evaluate how you approach this.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Before she could say anything more, something was shot right in between the two of them. It instantly released a green gas, quickly rising up and engulfing them. A man stood where Luke Cage was standing moments ago, on the second floor overlooking the main floor where the two of them stood. He wore cargo pants with a sheathed machete blade hanging from his said. Right now he is going barefoot, having taken off his boots after sneaking in through a window while climbing down the roof. That way they didn’t pick up on him slowly approaching the edge in order to eavesdrop on their conversation. He wore a vest with no other clothing covering his body. Instead, his arms and torso were covered with tattoos resembling animal print. A gas mask covered his face, tightly gripping onto the weapon he used to shoot the gas bomb down below. The woman was the first to drop down onto the floor, but the man held on for a few more seconds. No doubt trying to look at the man who invaded his place of business. But he took quickly lost consciousness. The man in the gas mask leaned down to grab the duffel bag behind his feet before jumping over the rail to land on the floor below.

Unzipping the bag, he put away the weapon and took out his javelin. He walked over and crouched down. He checked both of their pulses, confirming that they are simply knocked out. Using one hand to lift the mask above his face, he briefly stroked his beard. His dark slicked back hair matched the tone of his hair and eyes. Standing back up, he turned around and walked through the front doors. He stepped outside and looked around the sidewalk. Spotting someone, he called out to them. “You there!” The kid looked up, perplexed and cautious as he noticed the tattooed man wielding a javelin. “I’ll pay you to record a video for me right now.” The kid didn’t move at first. But he slowly started making his way to the odd man. “That’s it. Just point it at me right here, let me know once you start recording.” Bringing the phone up, he held it vertically and got it ready. Making eye contact, he nodded to signal him to start. Clearing his throat, the man started to talk.

“My name is Kraven Nikolaevich. I am standing in front of a dance club known as Harlem’s Paradise.” He motioned with his hand to the building beside him. “My message goes out to the one you know as Spider-Man. Inside this building, I have taken hostages. I will kill said hostages in exactly two hours unless you come here and fight me. If you fail to come, I will kill them and do the same thing again until you arrive and engage me in combat.” Again, he motioned with his hand to stop the video. The kid’s eyes widened as he slowly pulled down. Kraven reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out two hundred in cash. “Post that video online, on any site you are able to.” The kid quickly took the money, afraid he might have surprised him by grabbing his arm and pulling him inside too. He posted the video as quickly as he could. Then he practically sprinted away from the building. Kraven went back inside and waited for the Spider to show.

******

Peter struggled to open his eyes, despite someone slapping the back of their hand against his legs. “Wake up! This is a place of worship, not a place for someone to sleep and take up space.” He turned his head and looked up at the person talking to him. A nun stood in the aisle. To her left was the pew and a giant cross coming out of the far wall. All the other benches were empty, the rest of the building quiet except for the noise being made by the two of them.

“I’m sorry. Just wanted to sleep inside, change things up.” Peter forced himself to sit up. He leaned forward and rubbed his face.

“I suppose it is also a good place to hide from the authorities Mr. Parker.” Peter looked back at the nun, definitely more awake now than he was a few seconds ago. She held up the suitcase he carried with him, the name on the piece of luggage facing him. “I’m assuming this originally belong to a relative. Unless your name has a silent ‘B’ in it.”

She let go as he reached out to take back the suitcase from her. He maintained eye contact, nervous and afraid. “Are you going to turn me in?”

Truth be told, the pause between the question and her answer was relatively short. But to someone like Peter, it felt like an eternity. If going to prison was the worst case scenario, then this felt like a close second. But all the tension building up inside him disappeared, and his heart slowed down significantly once he finally heard her respond. “No. How can I? Even if you did commit a crime, it does not seem like you have any intent to go out and commit violence against anyone.”

“Wait…so you don’t believe in the video? Which you shouldn’t, you are totally right in disbelieving it!” He sat up as straight as he could. “I’m being framed; everyone has turned against me! I’m not trying to sound like Jesus though. Unless saying that now makes it sound like I’m doing that – then I take it all back! I don’t mean to sound blasphemous or anything.”

She held up a hand and got him to stop talking. Pushing her hand through the air, Peter scooted over and let the nun sit next to him. “Mr. Parker, even though you might have rarely set foot in Hell’s Kitchen, you have a large presence in this community. I have heard people talk about the many things you do in the city, a couple of kids imagining what it would be like to swing like you do. I doubt that the man who tried to stop a ferry from tearing in half all by himself – a very foolish thing to do by the way – is the same one that people believe committed murder.” Peter got a little red when she criticized his lack of thinking for a past experience. But he did feel himself relax a little. She turned her head and looked at the cross in the wall. “You have a bright soul. One that has experienced trauma at a young age yet strives to not give into all the temptations from the darkness that tries to rule your life. It’s a soul similar to that of my son’s.”

“You have a son?” Peter asked.

“From before I joined the church. And I didn’t leave him on the best of terms. We have only recently reconnected. It will be a struggle to try and rekindle the relationship we once had. But just because it is hard, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try to do everything I can to make things right.” The nun turned and looked over the young kid sitting next to her. “What have you done to fight back against the forces against you?”

“I’ve been trying to figure out how to prove that video is fake. But I haven’t had time to really lay things out. Been moving around a lot.”

She shook her head. “There is more than one way to fight back. You must fight back against the false perception that has been made about you. Do you what you would do on any other day.”

“But there are only four people who know the truth. And there is no proof. How can I go out and fight any crime without being hunted myself?” Peter looked down at the ground. The nun remained silent. She can see that he feels lost, that he is struggling to find the motivation to keep moving forward. Reaching out, she patted him on the shoulder.

“Right now, you don’t need everyone to be on your side. You just need the right ones.” She stood up, stepping out into the aisle and turning to face the door. But before she left, she put one hand on the back of the bench and turned to the young boy. “There is a breaking news story. Someone has taken hostages at a club known as Harlem Paradise. The criminal called you out.” Peter picked up his head. She met his gaze. “You have ninety minutes to decide if you are willing to risk your own safety to help those in greater danger.” With that, she let him think about those words as she left the place of worship, closing the door behind her. He continued looking downward, forming fists and clenching as hard as he could. A decision has been made. And despite everything, it was an easy decision for him to make. He looked at the briefcase and opened it up. His hand pushed off his hood before grabbing his mask and pulling it down on his face. Changing into the rest of his outfit, he found a door to walk through without going right out onto the street and shot out a web to pull himself off the ground and through the air.


End file.
